“Don’t…touch…me,” she growled, her voice as low-pitched and hoarse as I’d ever heard it. Then she stomped past him, headed in my direction. “FYI, Cam, he does have a gun. He always has a gun.”

“Good to know.” I holstered mine, but left it exposed just in case.

“Olivia, you can’t trust him,” Cavazos said. “He works for Tower.”

“Not by choice.” In the kitchen, I ran a cold glass of water for Liv and handed it to her across the counter dividing the two rooms. “And if Tower knows I’m here, it’s not because I told him. Liv destroyed my phone. We’ve been operating completely outside both syndicates.”

“You really expect me to believe that?” Cavazos scowled at me from across the room through eyes so dark they could have hidden original sin.

“I don’t give a shit what you believe.”

“Ruben,” Liv said, still hoarse from the abuse of her throat. He looked at her as if he wanted to eat her whole, and the urge to rip his heart out with my bare hands grew from fleeting fantasy to finger-twitching compulsion. “Cam’s not representing Tower in this. He’s telling the truth. And I trust him with my life.”

“Then you’re a fool,” Cavazos snapped. “He’d hand you over with one word from Jake Tower.”

“Yeah, and you just threatened to crush my windpipe. The difference is that you were acting of your own free will. So shut the hell up so we can start planning. We’re going to need your manpower and Cam’s knowledge of the Tower syndicate to get her out of there.”

“Will someone please tell me why the hell Jake Tower took my daughter? Is this a move against me?”

“It has nothing to do with you,” Liv said, while I pulled two clean, short glasses from an upper cabinet. “As far as we know, he has no idea she’s yours.”

“Then what does he want with her? Has he hurt her?”

Liv glanced at the floor, then met his gaze again. “I don’t know. But the more time we waste, the less likely she is to be unhurt when we get to her.”

I set the bottle of whiskey on the countertop harder than necessary to capture his attention, and when Cavazos looked at me, I poured a fifty-dollar shot into each of two glasses, then handed one to Liv. When I drank the other one myself, he scowled, but made no comment.

“If he’s not tryk the othe get to me, why the hell does he want her?”

“He wants her blood,” Anne said from the hallway, having ventured out of the bedroom for the first time since I’d told her to stay put, unsure how bad things were going to get. “How are you going to keep him from getting it?”

Cavazos whirled around fast enough I half hoped he’d injured his own neck. “Who the hell are you?”

“This is Anne,” Liv said, before Annika could dig herself in any deeper. “She’s been raising Hadley since Elle died. Which means you owe her both respect and gratitude.”

“Is there anyone else back there?” he demanded from Liv. “Or are you done pulling rabbits from your hat?”

Anne crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m the last,” she said, and Cavazos truly looked at her for the first time, studying her from head to toe, and I could see that she wanted to squirm, but wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

“My daughter thinks you’re her mother?”

“I am her mother,” Anne insisted. “The only one she remembers.”

“And your husband?” he demanded, glancing pointedly at the wedding ring she still wore. “She thinks your husband is her father?”

“She did.” Anne glanced at the ground for a second, silently grasping for composure, then she met his gaze again boldly. “Tower had him killed yesterday, trying to get to Hadley.”

“Did your husband treat her well? Did you both?”

Fresh tears shone in her eyes. “As if she were our own.”

“Then I am very sorry for your loss. You will be compensated for your care of my daughter.”

“I don’t want your money!” Anne snapped, cheeks flaming with indignation, fists clenched against injustice. “I just want my daughter back. And she is my daughter. She may have your DNA, but she has Elle’s heart and my love, and you don’t even know her!”

Liv tried to quiet her with one hand on her shoulder, but Anne brushed that hand away and stepped closer to Cavazos, fearless in defense of her daughter. “We could really use your help, but I’d rather go after her all alone than rescue her from one monster only to turn her over to another.”

“You think I’m a monster?”

“I know you are.” She glanced pointedly at Liv’s bruised face. “And I won’t let you have Hadley, even if you help us get her back.”

Cavazos watched her for a moment in silence, evidently waiting for her to take the insult back or soften it with an apology, and when she did neither, his expression broke into a small, genuinely amused smile. “I admire your grit. When this is all over, I’d like to discuss a potential future for you in the syndicate….”

“Go to hell,” Anne spat, and Cavazos laughed out loud, turning to Liv. “Are the two of you actually related? Because I think I see the family resemblance.&8221;

“Anne…” I tugged her toward the table and motioned for Liv to follow, and with us seated on either side of her, she seemed to calm down. “Why don’t we just worry about getting Hadley back for now, and we can sort the rest of this out then. Once she’s safe.” And finally Anne nodded.